Two Teesside postcodes are on a region-wide “worst offenders” list for householders flushing the wrong things down the loo.

Northumbrian Water says it has to deal with sewage spewing back into people’s homes - and out into the water course - after people put things they shouldn’t into the toilet or down the sink.

Two of the five North East hotspots are on Teesside; TS17, including Ingleby Barwick and Thornaby, and TS19 - which includes Roseworth, Fairfield, Hardwick, Bishopsgarth and Elm Tree.

The water company also had to break up a fatberg found underground on Teesside; a giant mass of oil, sludge and rubbish, usually found in underground sewage systems of large cities with a high number of food outlets.

Now the UK’s waste management agency, businesswaste.co.uk, has called for people who flush away “inappropriate substances” to be slapped with hefty fines to cover the clean-up costs.

And it’s not just nappies and wipes; Northumbrian Water has previously revealed the strangest things it’s found in sewer pipes, including a BRA in Middleton St George that caused the pipe to burst and the road above to collapse.

The main items that cause blockages

• Cooking waste – fat clumps together and causes ‘fatbergs’ which eventually completely block sewers. One under London this year was 80 metres long and took workers four days to break down.

• Nappies – notorious for blocking drains and sewers.

• Wet wipes – made of plastic fibres and do not break up in the way toilet paper does. Even those marked “flushable” on the packet cause blockages.

• Recycling waste from washing out food containers - putting this down the sink instead of the general waste bin causes fatbergs.

A shower curtain, false teeth and a full can of Foster’s Lager are among the items people have chucked down the loo.

Richard Warneford, wastewater director at Northumbrian Water, said: “The problems caused by flushing the wrong things down the toilet, or pouring things down the sink that you shouldn’t, can lead to some particularly horrible experiences for our customers.

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“Blocking pipes can cause the sewer network to back up into people’s homes, or out in the environment, where it can cause harm to wildlife, plant life or our water courses.

“We find problems like this in various places across our region.

“We would urge everyone to remember the three Ps rule that our mascot, Dwaine Pipe, tries to encourage people to stick to – only toilet paper, pee and poo go down the loo – and that FOG – fats, oils and grease – should never be poured down the sink, they should be scraped into the bin.

“Doing this can play a real part in helping to reduce the number of blockages we have to deal with.”

Fat found under manholes in the Darlington area

Businesswaste.co.uk says man-made blockages caused by nappies, fatbergs and rubbish cost water companies millions every year, causing floods and a risk to health.

The agency has warned time is already “running out” to ensure the UK’s drains are clear for the winter rains.

The agency’s Mark Hall claims it’s a “national epidemic” and “people just aren’t getting the message”.